Anyone else have problem's with stealth heads

[4406pac]

Anyone else have problems with the keepers on the stealth heads. Only mild build 383, .060 over, 8.5.1 maybe(120-125 cylinder pressure), 509 hyd cam, stock rockers. Looks like the keeper just split letting the valve drop hitting the piston till the head broke off. Just trying to see if this was a one time deal or has it happened to somebody else.

[Blown70]

OUCH!!

[tan top]

            OUCH     ..   
                             
try asking  over on moparts also 

[charger_fan_4ever]

Hmm

I hope the dressings in the stealth heads are not like the sbf chinese heads. The chinese sbf heads are know for dropping valves. Most guys buy them bare and have them assembled with good parts cause they are so bad.

[firefighter3931]

I would be making contact with 440 Source for some type of financial restitution. 

That is not a radical cam profile....shouldn't have happened, inmo.

Another member here (username ; Mally69) had the same thing happen to his Stealth heads earlier in the year. 



Ron

[defiance]

True, but in his case, a rocker broke and gouged the keeper, didn't it?  of course, the rocker was also 440source, so not making excuses, just sayin' I can still hope this particular keeper failer is a fluke...

[Mfr426]

As a recent stroker builder (including those heads), I find this a bit disconcerting at best.

Please keep us updated on how this issue is handled. Best of luck for a speedy recovery.

Sorry you had to go through this.

Mike R in Reading PA
69 Charger RT/SE 505 Clone

[Rob R]

Maybe I've just been doing this type of stuff longer than most but a pair of new alum cyl heads for $800 would give me concerns with the quality of parts ...I don't even use the Indy valves in Ez heads.Seen that carnage way too many times...
I'd be surprised if 440'sRus did anything...there never is any type of warranty on HIPO parts...that's why I'm soooo careful

[frederick]

I'm glad I upgraded to 10degree locks.
There doesn't seem to be that much damage luckily, not even the piston was holed, and I don't see debris in the other cylinders.

Frederick

[dstryr]

I have often read that guys have upgraded immediately to 10* locks & retainers.
 
Here's one example:  http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4237025&an=&page=0&vc=1
 
And the part # 613-16: http://www.compcams.com/technical/Catalogs/106-07/310-311.pdf

[Challenger340]

That really sucks !

Just curious, did the engine see some high rpm's ?

[Musicman]

Well, that is the first that I have heard of one breaking apart for no apparent reason. Mally69 had one assembly come apart (not break apart), but that was due to an issue with his rocker assembly, and would have caused any keeper set to fail regardless. Having examined my own Stealth heads when I purchased them, I did find a few assembly flaws with the locks & keepers "AS SHIPPED", along with an acceptable but not so great valve job. Of course as I have said many times in the past and will state here again... When you purchase a set of fully assembled heads ( regardless of manufacture), you are buying a set of heads and a set of generally acceptable parts to go with them. You are not paying for or receiving radical high performance components, a 3 angle valve job, or a first rate assembled package, etc... In most cases you can simply bolt them down after a quick inspection and get away with it, assuming everything looked good, but I wouldn't reccomend it. It's always better to fully disassemble them and check them out 100%. Always do a good valve job, and replace any component that you feel will not be up to the designed task. In my case, I am having a first rate valve job done, and I will be replacing the stock 7 degree locks and keepers with a 10 degree set. Not that there is anything wrong with the keepers that came with them, I'm just replacing them because it is a cheap upgrade that goes a long way toward greater piece of mind in the end.

Also bear in mind that this sort of thing "can and does" happen from time to time with "all manufactures".

[AKcharger]

I've had good luck with 'em so far (300 miles). I did have my machine shop look 'em over before I installed them...Hope that doersn't happen to me.

[RD]

update.... dont think 4406pac has had a chance to post this... but the stealth heads cannot be ran with stock rockers.  the rockers will ride the retainers (i.e. touch) causing too much pressure/load on the keepers, hence the reason why this keeper went south.  owner is contacting 440source to see what is the next step.

[defiance]

then with mally's problem, this makes the second known instance of rocker interference resulting in a dropped valve on these heads...  apparently we need to be very careful about rockers on them.

[Musicman]

Don't no what to tell you there.... Other guys have been running them with stock rockers for some time, and I should think that they would have notice a problem like that at the time of assembly. I know the keepers on the Stealths have a larger diameter than stock because of the larger springs (1-1/2" keepers verses stock 1-11/32). I looked at mine a while back with stock rockers in place just out of curiosity and the clearances were just slightly under a 1/16" on average, but nothing was touching. 

[Musicman]

then with mally's problem, this makes the second known instance of rocker interference resulting in a dropped valve on these heads...  apparently we need to be very careful about rockers on them.

Mally didn't have a rocker clearance problem, he had a rocker assembly fail.

[defiance]

True.  Still enough that I'm going to make another detailed inspection of my rocker/valve setup tonight

[Musicman]

  Always a good idea

[4406pac]

As you can see from the pic's, the edge of the retainers are shiny, and when setting the rockers on the head you can see were they hit the retainer and springs. As far as 440source take on it, not their problem, that a professional builder would of caught that the pushrod geometry was off. I'm sorry, professional engine builder would probably bought better heads, just an average Joe trying to get a little more horsepower. We put the heads on in car, their ad says you can use stock rockers, so didn't think they would interfere and could not see in the car that they were hitting the retainers. I guess the bottom line is if you are running stealth heads and put stock rockers on check your retainers or the springs to make sure they clear. Don't want this to happen to any of my Mopar brothers! Hard and expensive lesson, should have looked at it a little closer, anyone have a single stealth head for sale???

[AKcharger]

I'm running all stock rockers, no dropped valves yet...450 miles

[RD]

I'm running all stock rockers, no dropped valves yet...450 miles

you drive yours like a grandpa though LOL.. (oh i dont really know, just teasing you).

[AKcharger]

Hey 6 Pack can you take some more phots of EXACTLY where they were hitting? The pictures you posted it looks like the rocker and valve were lining up, I don't see where the mismatch was. I'm pulling my covers tonight to check and want to know what I should look for. My rockers line up perfectly with the valve stem but your pictures look like they did too...I must be missing somthing.

Thanks in advance

you drive yours like a grandpa though LOL.. (oh i dont really know, just teasing you).

My wife tells me that all the time 

[Musicman]

As you can see from the pic's, the edge of the retainers are shiny, and when setting the rockers on the head you can see were they hit the retainer and springs. As far as 440source take on it, not their problem, that a professional builder would of caught that the pushrod geometry was off. I'm sorry, professional engine builder would probably bought better heads, just an average Joe trying to get a little more horsepower. We put the heads on in car, their ad says you can use stock rockers, so didn't think they would interfere and could not see in the car that they were hitting the retainers. I guess the bottom line is if you are running stealth heads and put stock rockers on check your retainers or the springs to make sure they clear. Don't want this to happen to any of my Mopar brothers! Hard and expensive lesson, should have looked at it a little closer, anyone have a single stealth head for sale???

That really sucks... Of course I wonder now if the difference is in the head castings or the stamped rockers. I know the chambers vary quite a bit from casting to casting but that's a cast item. The rocker assembly points, spring seats and valve alignment etc, are machined, so I wouldn't think that there would be a noticeable variation there. I could see where the rockers may varying quite a bit batch to batch, but you never know, these are economy heads afterall... IE: Quality Control starts when the customer inspects the product at the time of purchase.

[General_01]

Hey AK. From what I see in the pics, it looks like the issue is where the retainer runs under the rocker arm. It looks like it may be close to hitting the rocker arm body where the shaft goes through the rocker. I circled the area in the pic.